projecte fotogràfic

 
















I have posted to Flickr some fotos I took recently in the Comunidad Valenciana (southern Valencia province) where I live. One of the themes that attracts me is a kind of urban 'disintegration' where the new has yet to pave over the past. I like decay and rot, it can possess a mesmerising, visceral beauty that a good pair of cheekbones and a detached, Arctic countenance never can.

The past is rapidly being eradicated in a global re-zoning frenzy where one may no longer indicate the  true geographical scene of his or her first attempted molestation or indeed, upbringing. This is not borne of a fetish for the Past, but rather that in my view not everything that is New is necessarily a bonanza to be celebrated. The 1960s taught us that : you cannot stack survivors of the Somme into vertical living. It seems to me that anything that has existed for longer than ten years is now immediately ear-marked for demolition and re-born as a car park adjacent to a multi-level shopping experience. 
Nowadays everything must be marketed as an 'experience' that will surpass your expectations. It often does - downwards. The only fate worse than actual, human suffering is the relentless and unbearable pressure to enjoy oneself. Which can be considerably more painful than sciatica. Similarly, the erection of a luxury residential building that promises both a lavishly air-conditioned lifestyle and a new skin care regime that will instantly  revolutionise your social and sexual prospects.  

Other themes: I like architecture, signage and graffiti. And grain elevators, the original 'cathedrals of the prairie'. I think the latter can be attributed to repeated viewings of David Lynch's "The Straight Story", a film I loved. I knew Wisconsin for a short period of time. On New Year's Day, 2000, I took some New York friends to see it at a theatre in Union Square. Afterwards, in the foyer, I was addressed with undiluted disappointment. Retrospectively, I can understand it - people don't want to look at tractors, especially when they still have Ecstasy in their system.

I do not photograph people because I use a cheap digi-cam and I believe that almost everybody - there are exceptions - is entitled to decent lighting and a bit of Hair & Make-up. In any case, this is a rambling introduction to a rather average photo gallery.

I'll add more to the slideshow soon.